Baby seats are used to support and secure a baby or small child to a seat so the baby can be safely transported in a vehicle, a stroller, carried by hand, and the like. Baby seats for these and other uses are well known and are commercially available in nearly endless designs having a huge array of configurations and options.
All baby seats for these and other uses have a rigid portion. The rigid portion has a head end where the baby's head is most closely positioned, a foot end where the baby's feet are most closely positioned, a right side, and a left side.
The rigid portion comprises a rigid shell that is contoured throughout. The rigid shell has a contoured front surface for supporting the child. Oftentimes padding is added to cover the front surface and provide a more comfortable seating area for the child. A seat belt or harness attached to the rigid shell secures the child to the front surface.
Opposite the front surface is a contoured rear surface. The rear surface is usually contoured to dock or mate with a base. Examples of a base include a car-seat base connected to the seat of a vehicle by a seat belt or connected to a stroller frame (where the baby seat is removable and the stroller frame is the base). The rear surface may be contoured with flat or supporting contours so that it is stable when placed on the ground. The front surface may also be contoured to dock or mate with a base. Other contours on the front or rear surfaces include ridges, lips, grooves, indentations, protrusions, openings, and the like. Contours such as openings may serve the function of allowing a seat belt or harness to pass through, or may be there to reduce the weight of the baby seat, or may be the result of a manufacturing requirement. Some of the contours may have a function, for example to mate with a corresponding base, and some may serve no function, at least to an end-user, such as a ridge that is the result of or required by a manufacturing process.
The rigid portion also includes rigid extensions extending from the rigid shell. One common example of a rigid extension is a carrying handle. The carrying handle, which is part of the rigid portion, is connected to the rigid shell. It is appreciated that the connection may be a moveable connection, such as a handle moveably connected so that it can pivot. It is also appreciated that the rigid shell may comprise more than one rigid section and that the rigid sections may by moveably connected to one another, such as in a baby seat wherein the angle between the head end and the foot end is adjustable. This allows the baby seat to be changed from a generally upright seating position to a generally flat lying down position. Accessories may also be attached to the rigid shell, such as umbrellas, cups, and the like.
It should be clear now that the rigid portion of the baby seat can have an infinite number of arrangements and contours and that the topography of the rigid portion depend on things such as the intended use of the baby seat, manufacturing requirements, safety regulations, and the like. Accordingly, each baby seat has a topography defined at least in part by the contours that are specific to each manufacturer, and such topographies even vary among different product lines from the same manufacturer.
The designs are limitless, and a study of the multitude of baby carriers currently on the market confirms that, inasmuch as the rigid portion is concerned, almost every design is different from every other design. As a result, in general, a baby carrier designed to be used with one base or accessory cannot be used with a different base or accessory.
As mentioned above, uses of a baby seat include securely carrying a baby or setting the baby down without worrying that the baby will crawl away or get injured. For this, the baby seat may have a handle and a generally flat rear surface topography, It would be desirable if there were also a way to suspend any baby seat from a structure. For example it would be desirable to be able to hang the baby seat from a frame on the floor, or from a bar secured in a doorway, or from a tree limb, or from a hook on a ceiling, thereby converting the baby seat into a swing. In another example the structure that the baby seat is suspended from is the shoulder of a person. In such an arrangement the person can carry the baby in the baby seat in a hands-free manner. And the person can carry the baby seat for extended periods of time without fatigue since the baby seat hangs from the shoulder or torso rather than having to be actively grasped and lifted, as is the case with a handle.
Unfortunately, this is not presently possible in a universal manner. While a baby seat can be designed with specific features so that it can be suspended from above, it is not possible to take an existing car seat with an unknown or unstudied design and safely suspend it. An existing car seat or one with an unknown or unstudied design requires modifications specific to that seat in order to safely suspend it from above. And such modifications may not even be possible because modifying the design could render the car seat unsafe or unsuitable for its intended primary use.
Thus a need presently exists for a baby seat sling for suspending a baby seat—any baby seat—from a structure and to do so without having to modify the baby seat, without compromising the safety of the car seat for its intended primary use, and without having to know or understand the particular and specific design elements of the baby seat.